Wednesday, March 22. 2006

There is an interesting story in the Gazette about the problems of re-injecting Coal bed Methane water. If you are interested in the whole CBM development it is very interesting, otherwise I'm sure its as dry as dirt. One really interesting thing jumps out at me from the article though.

The Tongue River layer is perhaps the best option for re-injection because it is nearest to the surface and would allow the injected water to be tapped by wells.

The Tongue River layer ranges from 750 feet thick near the edges of the basin to 3,000 feet thick. This layer contains the gas-bearing coal seams that producers want to drill. The coal seams also provide water for stock and domestic wells.

The whole time the CBM advocates have been talking about development they have been telling us that what they are doing will not affect the ground water we drink and use for cattle water here in Eastern Montana. But look at the sentence above, "The coal seams also provide water for stock and domestic wells." So, if they de-water the coal seam to extract the methane where does it leave those of us living in the area. No water for our houses or our livestock since this is the water we use now.

How can they tell me it won't affect me when it is now obvious it will affect me. Lie about something enough and people will start to believe what you are saying and this is a perfect example of it. The industry claims it won't affect groundwater and it will. Are they also lying when they say that dumping the water into our streams will not affect the water quality? You bet your ass they are lying, lying to exploit Eastern Montana's resources for minimal costs.

I understand that the whole CBM movement, which will strip our easily accessible water away forever, will never stop but we need sensible development that minimizes impact. Hopefully Thursday the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will enact regulations that minimize the impact to our water quality that the developers want to pollute for their short term gain. Hell, even the Billings Gazette agrees that the DEQ should do this so I ain't the only one. I anxiously await with baited breath the decision of the DEQ.

Lying is the same as alcoholism. Liars prevaricate even on their deathbeds. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov